Cellular carton



Feb. 4, 1969 L. ADAMS, JR 3,425,516

CELLULAR CARTON File d May a, 1967 Sheet i N VEN 1 OR. LEON/4RD ADAMS, L/R.

zmzik ww W A TTO/P/VEYS L. ADAMS, JR

Feb. 4, 1969 CELLULAR CARTON Z of 3 Sheet Filed May 5, 1967 INVENTOR.

LEONA/PD ADAM-5, (JR

ATTORNEYS Feb. 4, 1969 ADAMS,'JR 3,425,616

CELLULAR CARTON Filed May 5, 1967 Sheet 0 of 5 Pi IO ft, /67

ilni IN VENTOR. LEONA/PD ADAMS, JR.

ZMAQZZWMMM ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,425,616 CELLULAR CARTON Leonard Adams, Jr., Louisville, Ky., assignor to The Finn Industries, Inc., Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Filed May 3, 1967, Ser. No. 635,832 US. Cl. 229--28 6 Claims Int. Cl. B65d /36, 5/48, 5/66 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates, in general, to improved cartons and, in particular, to improved cellular cartons.

In the distillery industry, a number (normally ten) of one-tenth pint bottles of wiskey are packaged in a single carton, for storage and distribution.

Presently, there are many types Olf cellular cartons available which can be and are being used to package these lbottles, however, each of them is generally objectionable, for one reason or another. For example, some of these cellular cartons cannot be knocked-down or flatfolded, for shipping or storage. The cellular cartons which can be shipped knocked-down or flat-folded are generally difficult to erect. Other cellular cartons cannot be easily filled with automatic equipment. Many of the available cellular cartons which are acceptable from the standpoint Olf shipping, erecting and filling them are objectionalble because of their high cost.

The disclosed cellular cartons of the present invention are particularly designed for use in the distillery industry to package these one-tenth pint bottles of whiskey, however, by simply changing their dimensions and/or the number of cells provided, the cartons can be used in virtually any application Where it is desired to package a number of articles in a single carton for shipping or storage. The cellular cartons are manufactured from a single Iblank of material which is cut, scored and folded with an irreducible waste of material and with fully automatic machinery. A separate cover which can be easily and quickly affixed to the cartons also is provided. The cartons are conveniently shipped fiat-folded to the bottle manufacturer who erects them and fills the individual cells with empty bottles. The filled cartons (without their covers) are placed in the corrugated shipping cartons which are intended for shipment to the distributor or re tailer, and then shipped in this manner to the distiller.

The distiller, upon receipt of the cartons, opens the corrugated shipping cartons and, without removing the cellular cartons from them, inverts the same to remove the bottles. The bottles are then processed through the distillers place of business, during which time they are filled, capped and placed back into the cellular cartons.

One of the important features of the cellular cartons resides in the fact that the bottles can be automatically inserted into the cellular openings or cells of the cantons. This is a result of the fact that the cellular cartons have no upstanding lid or closure to interfere with the operation of the apparatus used to fill them.

automatically lock- After all of the bottles have been inserted into the cellular cartons contained within a shipping carton, the lid structures or covers are afiixed to and automatically locked with the cellular cartons to close them. The shipping cartons are then sealed, to readythem for shipment.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide improved cellular-type cartons having a number of individual cells therein into which articles can be packaged lfor shipping and storage.

Another object is to provide improved cellular cartons having a separate cover, each of which can be formed from a single blank of sheet material.

Still another object is to provide improved cellular cartons which can be formed from a single blank of sheet material which is cut, scored, folded and adhesively afiixed together to form said carton, with an irreducible amount of waste and in a fashion such that folding and glueing is easily accomplished.

A still further object is to provide improved cellular cartons of the above type which can be shipped knockeddown and which can be easily and quickly erected without the need of additional glueing.

A still further object is to provide improved cellular cartons of the above type having a separate cover which can be easily afiixed to and locked with the carton after it has been erected and filled.

Still another object is to provide improved cellular cartons of the above type which can be packaged in corrugated shipping cartons and thereafter automatically filled and easily closed.

Still another object is to provide improved cellular cartons which, after being formed, are in a. knocked-down state ready for shipment and which are thereafter easily erected for filling.

Still another object is to provide improved cellular cartons having open cellular structures which are unimpeded by any extensions or protrusions, and which can be readily automated for loading and unloading.

Other olbjects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The above objectives are accomplished with a cellular carton including, generally, a number (ten in the illustrated embodiment) of individual cells for receiving and retaining articles, such as the one-tenth pint bottles of whiskey referred to above. The carton is formed from a single blank of sheet material which is cut, scored, folded and glued in a fashion such that it is in a knocked-down, ready-for-shipping condition upon being fon'med and is thereafter easily erected for filling. Separate covers are provided for the cartons and each of them has an offset locking flange which, upon being inserted into the carton, automatically lockingly engages with a locking notch of the carton to fixedly secure them to the cartons.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to, the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cellular carton constructed in accordance with the invention, with its cover removed.

FIG. 2 is a similar perspective view of the carton, further illustrating its cover;

FIG. 3 also is a similar perspective view of the carton, partially broken away to illustrate the manner in which the cover is lockingly secured to the carton;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the carton blank from which the cellular carton is formed;

FIGS. -11 are plan views illustrating the manner in which the carton blank of FIG. 4 is folded and glued to form the c arton of FIG. 1;

FIG. 121 is a top plan view of the carton, illustrating the manne r in which it is erected;

FIGS. 13-17 are views generally illustrating the manner in which the bottom of the carton is lockingly fixed in position; and

FIG. 18 is a plan view of the blank for the cover.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings, in FIGS. 1-3 there is shown a cellular carton having ten individual cells 12-21 therein and a separate cover 22 which can be easily lock-ingly secured to the carton to close it. The carton 10 is formed from a single carton blank 24 (FIG. 4) which is folded in a fashion such that the carton is in a flat-golded position ready for shipping or storage upon completion of the folding and glueing operations, and is thereafter easily erected from the fiat position merely by asserting a force on two of its corners to separate its walls and lock its bottom in a flat position. Once the bottom is locked in position, the carton 10 is held erected. The cover 22 has a locking flange 26 which is formed by simply reversely folding one of its edges. This locking flange 26 automatically lockingly engages with locking notches 28 in the partition walls 30 between each of the cells 12-21, when the edge of the cover is inserted into the carton, to fixedly secure the cover 22 to the carton. The carton is closed by tucking the opposite edge of the cover 22 into the carton.

More specifically, the carton 10 is formed from the carton blank 24 which is cut as an integral unit from suitable material such as paperboard, with a minimum amount, generally less than 10%, of waste. The carton blank 24 is generally rectangular-shaped, having an offset portion 32 which forms the bottom of the carton, as explained more fully below. A number of vertically disposed score lines 34-46 divide the carton blank 24 into a number of partition walls 30, a number of glue flaps 48-57, interior partition wall sections -63, end wall sections -68 and outer side walls and 71. The score line 38 joins with a pair of U-sha-ped cut lines 74 and 75 formed in the carton blank 24 and is discontinuous between the loop formed by the arms of the cut lines 74 and 75, The portion of the carton blank 24 to the left (as shown) of the score line 38 is folded along the score line 38 to overlie the portion of the carton blank to its right during the folding operation, and the portions of the interior partition wall sections 60 and 61 defined by the cut lines 74 and 75 provide glue tabs which are used to form the carton 10, as explained more fully below.

The offset portion 32 is integrally affixed to the side wall 71, along a horizontal score line 78. The portion of the carton blank 24 above the score line 78 (as shown) is divided in half along a line 80 which extends horizontally across the width of the carton blank. The carton blank is out along line 80 between the vertical score lines 39 and 42, and between the vertical score lines 38 and 43 to the outer edges thereof. The portion of the line 80 between the vertical score lines 38, 39 and 42, 43 is merely scored. Horizontal score lines 86 and 88 on the offset portion 32 divide the same into two bottom sections 90 and 91 and a glue flap 93.

A pair of locking hooks 95a and 95b are formed along the upper and lower edges of the carton blank, respectively, which locking hooks are adhesively sealed together to form a single locking hook 95 (FIG. 15) when the carton is formed. The locking hook 95 lockingly engages with a V-shaped locking notch 96 formed in the bottom sections 90 and 91, to hold the carton 10 erected. Similar locking hooks 96a and 96b also can be formed along the edges of the carton blank 24 to lockingly engage with a locking hook 97 in the bottom sections 90 and 91, if desired, however, the locking book 95 and the 75 locking notch 96 are generally sufiicient to secure the carton in an erected position.

A substantially rectangular-shaped cut-out 99 is formed in the carton blank, between the score lines 35 and 36 and extending an equal distance on each of the opposite sides of the horizotal cut-line 82. A similar cut-out 100 is formed between the score lines 44 and 45. These cutouts 99 and 100 or, more specifically, the portions thereof which extend into the partition walls 30 on each of their opposite sides, form the locking notches 28 with which the locking flange 26 of the cover 22 lockingly engages to secure the cover onto the carton.

It can be seen from the above description of the carton blank 24 that there is a minimum amount of waste when it is cut from a sheet of material.

Referring now to the FIGS. 5-11, it can be seen how the carton blank 24 is folded and glued to form the carton 10. In FIG. 5, the glue flaps 48 and 57 and the partition walls 30 are folded along the score line 35 to overlie the glue flaps 49 and 56. An adhesive such as glue is next applied to the glue flaps 48, 50, 55 and 57, generally in the manner illustrated by the speckling thereon.

Adhesive is next applied to the glue flaps 52 and 53, and the carton blank 24 is folded along the score line 44, so that the glue flaps 51, 52, 53 and 54 and the connected partition walls 30 overlie the partition walls 30 to the left (as shown) of the score line 44 and the interior partition wall sections 62 and 63, as shown in FIG. 6. When this fold is made, it is apparent that the glue flaps 52 and 53 are adhesively affixed to the interior partition wall sections 62 and 63, respectively. Then, adhesive is applied to the glue flaps 51 and 54, generally as indicated.

In FIG. 7, that portion of the carton blank 24 to the left of the score line 38 is folded over along the score line 38 to overlie the interior partition wall sections 60 and 61, and is adhesively afiixed to them, by means of the adhesive previously applied to the glue flaps 48, 50, 55 and 56. The portion of the carton blank 24 to the right of the score line 42 next is folded over along the score line 42 to overlie the outer side walls 70 and 71 and the end wall sections 67 and 68, as shown in FIG. 8.

Adhesive is applied to the glue flaps 49 and 56 and to to the glue flap portion of the interior partition wall sections 60 and 61, generally as illustrated in FIG. 7. The portion of the carton blank 24 to the left of the score line 40 then is folded over along the score line 40 to overlie the outer side walls 70 and 71 and the partition walls 30, as illustrated in FIG. 9. It may be noted that the score line 38 is now aligned with and overlies the score line 42, and that the glue flap portions of the interior partition wall sections 60 and 61 overlap and are adhesively affixed to the interior partition wall sections 62 and 63.

Next, adhesive is liberally applied to the interior partition wall sections 60 and 61 and to the exposed surface of the interior partition wall sections 62 and 63, as illustrated in FIG. 9. After applying the adhesive, the carton blank 24 is folded in half, along the line 80, as shown in FIG. 10. When this fold has been made, the portion of the carton blank 24 above the line 80 overlies and is adhesively aflixed to the portion thereof below the line 80, with the exception of the end wall sections 65 and 66.

Adhesive now is applied to the glue flap 93, as illustrated in FIG. 10, and the carton blank is folded over along the score line 86 to adhesively aflix the glue flap 93 to the outer side wall 70, as illustrated in FIG. 11. The carton 10 is now fully formed and, as can be seen in FIG. 11, it is in a fiat-folded position. Accordingly, a. number of these cartons can be easily packaged for shipment or storage, with a minimum waste of space.

To erect the carton 10, a force is applied to the end of the carton 10, generally in the direction indicated by the arrow 102 in FIGS. 11 and 12, while its opposite end is held fixed. In doing so, the outer side walls 70 and 71 are caused to separate and the interior partition wall sections 60-63 which are now adhesively affixed together to shift to the left with respect to the outer side walls 70 and 71, as illustrated in FIG. 12. This action, in turn, positions the partition walls 30, since the glue flaps 48-57 are adhesively aflixed to either the outer side wall 70, the outer side wall 71 or one of the interior partition wall sections 60-63.

The bottom sections 90 and 91 also are caused to unfold along the score line 86 and to move upwardly toward the lower edges of the outer side walls 70 and 71, as the latter are separated, as illustrated in FIG. 13. The bottom sections 90 and 91 are locked in a closed position, by engaging the locking notch 96 formed in them in the locking hook 95 which is now positioned centrally of the carton, as can be best seen in FIGS. -17. This is accomplished by shifting the bottom sections 90 and 91 to the left, as seen in FIG. 15, beyond the locking hook 95 and then permitting the bottom sections to again shift in the opposite direction, while simultaneously pushing upwardly on the end thereof to lockingly engage the locking notch 96 therein with the locking hook 95. The construction of the carton 10 is such that it has a natural tendency to return to a flat-folded position. The locking notch 96 being locked with the locking hook 95 resists this action, and this action is relied upon to retain the locking notch in locked engagement with the locking book. With the bottom sections 90 and 91 locked in a closed position, the carton 10 is held erect and prevented from collapsing.

The cover 22 for the carton 10 is formed from the carton blank 106, shown in FIG. 18. The carton blank 106 is generally rectangular-shaped and has score lines 108- 110 extending horizontally across it which divide it into a tuck flap 112, a top wall 114, a side wall 116 and the locking flange 26. As can be best seen in FIGS. 2, 3 and 14, the locking flange 26 is reversely folded along score line 108, so as to project upward on the underside of the cover 22. This edge of the cover 22 is inserted into the carton 10, between the outer side wall 71 and the edge of the partition walls 30, until the locking flange 26 lockingly engages in the locking notches 28 formed in the partition walls 30. The locking flange 26 is resiliently creased along the score line 108 so that it will flip outwardly and in barb-like fashion engage the under portion of the locking notches 28. The upper corners of the partition walls are preferably angularly cutaway so as to provide a chamfered edge 118 on them, to assist in inserting the locking flange 26.

It may be noted that the locking notches 28 are provided on the partition walls 30 on both sides of the carton so that the carton does not have to be oriented in one direction to permit the cover 22 to be lockingly engaged with it. In other words, the carton 10 does not have a right-hand and a left-hand side, as far as aflixing the cover 22 to it. The cover 22 may be affixed to it from either side.

After the cover 22 is aflixed to the carton 10, it is folded along score lines 109 and 110 so as to cover the top of the carton and to permit the tuck flap 112 to be tucked-in, as illustrated in FIG. 14.

From the above description, it can be seen that the cellular cartons 10 can be easily formed in a flat-folded position and in a fashion such that they can be easily erected from the flat-folded position, without the need of additional glueing. Also, the score lines, the cut lines, the folding and the glueing of the carton blank is all generally in vertical and horizontal directions, so that these steps can be easily performed, with a minimum amount of waste material, time and labor. The cover for the cellular cartons are independent structures which are easily formed and are easily aflixed to and automatically locked with the cartons. Furthermore, being independent of the cartons, the covers do not interfere with the automatic filling apparatus.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efliciently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention, which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Now that the invention has been described, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A cellular carton integrally formed from, a single sheet of material and having a bottom wall, end walls, side walls, a center wall and a plurality of partition walls on opposite sides of said center wall dividing the interior of said carton into a plurality of individual cells, said walls being flat folded for shipping and storage and thereafter automatically erected for use, at least two or more of said partition walls on each of the opposite sides of said center wall having a locking notch formed therein in the edge thereof facing said side walls, a cover for said carton having one edge thereof reversely folded to provide a locking flange thereon, said locking flange being slidably insertable into said carton between the edge of said partition walls and said side wall and resiliently movable to lockingly engage with said locking notches, whereby said cover can be selectively affixed to one of the sides of the carton by engaging the locking flange thereof in the corresponding ones of the locking notches.

2. A cellular carton formed from a single sheet of material and having a bottom wall, end. walls, side walls, a center wall and a plurality of partition walls on opposite sides of said center wall dividing the interior of said carton into a plurality of individual cells, the end ones of said plurality of partition walls have a glue flap aflixed to said center wall and the inner ones of said plurality of partition walls having glue flaps alternately affixed to respective ones of said side walls and said center wall, said end walls and said bottom wall being foldable to collapse said side "walls in side by side relation, said partition walls being folded and sandwiched between said collapsed side walls to permit said carton to be flat-folded for shipping and storage, at least two or more of said partition walls on at least one side of said center wall having a locking notch formed therein in the edge thereof facing a side wall, a cover for said carton having one edge thereof reversely folded to provide a locking flange thereon, said locking flange being slidably insertable into said carton between the edge of said partition walls and said side wall and resiliently movable to lockingly engage with said locking notches, whereby said cover is aflixed to said carton.

3. The cellular carton of claim 2 wherein said center wall has a locking hook formed with the lower edge thereof, adjacent an end wall, and wherein said bottom wall has a locking hook formed with the lower edge engageable with said locking hook to secure said bottom wall in a bottom closing position.

4. The cellular carton of claim 3 wherein said bottom wall holds said carton in erected position when said locking notch therein is lockingly engaged with said locking hook.

5. A cellular carton formed from a single blank of sheet material and having a bottom wall, end walls, side walls, a center wall and a plurality of partition walls on opposite sides of said center wall dividing the interior of said carton into a plurality of individual cells, said carton being flat-folded with the side walls thereof in side by side relation and with said plurality of partition walls folded and sandwiched between said side walls, one of said end walls being folded in half and sandwiched between said side walls and the other one of said end walls being folded in half and extending outwardly of said side walls, said bottom wall being folded in half and extending outwardly of said side walls along their lower edges, said end walls, said partition walls and said bottom wall being automatically unfolded as said side walls are separated after flat storage to erect said carton, interlocking means on said center wall and said bottom wall for securing said bottom wall in a bottom closing position, said bottom wall holding said carton in erected position when said interlocking means are engaged and a cover for closing the open top of said carton.

6. 'Ilhe cellular carton of claim 5 wherein said interlocking means comprises a locking hook formed with the lower edge of said center wall adjacent an end wall and a locking notch formed in the bottom wall in a position to lookingly engage with said locking hook.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS US. Cl. X.R. 

